Presenting Futures Past: Science Fiction and the History of Science

This volume of Osiris had, as its inspiration, the question of what science fiction could do for the history of science. Or, to put it another way, to what historiographical, intellectual, and pragmatic uses have historians of science put science fiction, and how might these strategies develop in the future? Initial efforts to answer these questions were sketchy, to say the least. Despite the fact that the intellectual significance of fiction, literature, and the imaginaries has increasingly been recognized by the humanities in general and by science studies in particular, science fiction itself has seemed— until recently—to remain on the disciplinary sidelines. ¹ However, in the past few years, this has begun to change. Panels on science fiction (SF) have begun to appear at conferences organized by societies devoted to different aspects of the history and cultures of science; symposia and workshops that have as their focus the relationship between SF and science studies have been held; and the role that science fiction plays in both lay and professional understanding of, and engagement with, scientific knowledge is being seriously interrogated by scholars. This volume of Osiris, then, seeks to bring together scholars involved in these recent developments to consider how the history of science should position itself in relation to SF. The first question that might be asked is, “Why?” Why should historians worry about stories—fantastical, fictional accounts—of the future? There are a number of reasons, but the most important is that the future itself has a history, and that history is deeply entangled in the relationship between science and society.